Brown Butter Blackberry Crumble Bars

This post has been sponsored by Challenge Butter. These Brown Butter Blackberry Crumble Bars are a delicious way to end any meal. The glazed spiced crumble on top of sweet jam will have everyone asking for more.

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Is anyone else looking at their calendar and wondering where the year went?

I kind of feel like the holidays are speeding toward us at an alarming rate. I haven’t started any meal lists or holiday shopping. Of course, that isn’t really anything new. We tend to do those kind of things last minute. Although every year I think this will be the year of planning…and then it is over before I can even start.

With things getting busier, I tend to make more bar desserts to save time. Less time in the kitchen means more time doing other things…like organizing and planning for the holidays.

These crumble bars are so easy to put together. To start with I browned the butter. If you have never browned butter, you need to. It has the most amazing smell, and it makes your baked goods taste so much better. (You can check out this Brown Butter Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake for pics on how your butter should look while browning.) Of course as a butter ambassador for Challenge Butter, I love using a butter that is made with 100% natural ingredients in all my baking.

Mix all the ingredients into a crumble mixture and press half of it into a pan. Spread on the jam and crumble the remaining mixture on top. Easy peasy, right?

After the bars cool, you will add a simple glaze. Now this is optional, but these bars are crumbly and the glaze kind of holds it all together. Plus, it’s a sugary glaze. Why wouldn’t you add that?

Today I have some important things to share with you. As a Challenge Butter Ambassador, I am partnering with Challenge Butter and UNICEF this holiday season. Challenge and UNICEF are partnering together to help build awareness for the childhood malnutrition crisis – which results in in the unnecessary loss of nearly three million young lives a year – through a Pinterest campaign. Beginning today until December 31, 2014, Challenge will donate a meal for a child in need for every recipe that is pinned from their “Pin a Recipe, Feed a Child” board. They have committed to 75,000 meals, so let’s help them reach that goal.

Holidays can get busy with shopping and baking, but let’s take time to think about how we can do something for those that do not have the same opportunities. This is a great way to help someone without even spending any money. It doesn’t get any easier than that. Just pin the recipes you see onto your own pin boards. Also, if you would like to donate more to this great cause, go HERE.

So bake a batch of bars and while they are baking, head over and PIN all the delicious recipes, then share this easy campaign with all your friends and family. Let’s pull together and see how many meals we can provide for the children in need.

Brown Butter Blackberry Crumble Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 12 crumble bars

Spices and brown butter give these blackberry crumble bars a delicious and rich flavor. These are perfect for the holiday rush that is coming. Enjoy them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Place the butter in a skillet over medium heat until melted. Stir the butter while it cooks. It will go from bubbly, to foamy, to amber brown in minutes. It is done when you smell a nutty aroma. Be careful not to burn the butter. Remove and let cool slightly.

Stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk. Slowly mix in the flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg until a crumbly mixture forms.

Press half the mixture firmly into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Spread the blackberry jam over the crust. Sprinkle with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

Whisk together the powdered sugar and water. Drizzle over the top of the cooled bars. Let set. Cut into 12 bars. Store in a sealed container on the counter.

Seriously, where did the year go? One minute, we were moving, and now it’s Christmas. I don’t get it! But I think I’ll eat brown butter bars until everything makes sense to me. Or, until I have a glorious sugar coma 🙂

Can I just say that you are awesome! What a great cause that you are supporting. These look delicious. I love bars more than anything. I am also like you too. I wait until the last second for everything. I always say I am going to be better, but I’m not. Heading over to Pinterest now to pin from the pin a recipe, feed a child board! 🙂

I can’t believe how fast time is going by too! It’s insane! Love these bars, I am a sucker for anything with crumble and with brown butter and blackberry? Swoon! This is such a wonderful cause too – pinned!

Jocelyn is the baker, photographer, and writer behind Inside BruCrew Life. She is married to her best friend, and they have three great kids. She spends her days baking sweet treats, and then trying to find ways to give the treats away without eating them all. Grab a cup of coffee and visit while she shares life from their kitchen. Read More…